The transom trunk of the present invention is intended to satisfy two needs: i) the overall shortage of secure and weatherproof storage recreational boats including so-called run-abouts, ski-boats and cruisers; and ii) to provide a place to land and store fish in those same recreational boats and cruisers given the widespread trend toward better interior boat finishes and materials--one of which are designed to accommodate fishing without risk of stains, permanent odors and damage to the interior.
Those who wish to spend some time fishing must usually choose either a more expensive full fiberglass interior option with or without snap-in carpet or buy a boat outfitted for fishing (e.g. live wells, bait wells, fiberglass lined in-floor storage, etc.). The first option is expensive and the latter option means that comfortable tasteful interior design, seating and materials which are intended to accommodate cruising, skiing, family boating and camping are mostly sacrificed.
In the prior art, Applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,859 which issued Feb. 21, 1989 to Hudson for an Apparatus for Securing Containers to Moving Platforms. Hudson discloses anchoring a tackle box to a boat by means of a frame upon which are two parallel interlocking rails which mate with corresponding interlocking grooves provided within the tackle box or within an attachment affixed to tackle box's exterior surface. Applicant is also aware of U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,526 which issued Sep. 24, 1991 to Nelson for a Boat Attachment. Nelson teaches an elongated container having a cross section of the approximate cross section of a fishing boat wherein the container has a plurality of straps attached to each end of the elongated container. The straps are adapted, by means of hook brackets, for mounting over each side of the boat gunnel. What is neither taught nor suggested, and that which it is an object of the present invention to provide, is mounting a container onto the aft transom swim platform of, for example, a pleasure boat by using a rail and track system where several rails, secured to the underside of the storage container, can be slidably mated with several relatively short tracks secured to the swim platform of a boat without the need to vertically raise the storage container to engage the rails and tracks. Further, use of the swim platform when the storage container is removed is not impeded since the short tracks are spaced apart, can be manufactured from softer plastic material and are contoured to eliminate sharp edges in a `foot friend manner`. The short tracks of the present invention allow the storage container to be aligned with the swim platform mounted rails with minimal lateral offset requiring only minimal movement for full engagement, a decided advantage when mounting a fully packed container. A single locking lever which is accessible to either the finger or toe of a boater secures the storage container and permits easy removal by a single person.